The Singapore hotel group, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts is now opening their facilities in North America.  Where?  Playa del Carmen Riviera Maya Mexico! 

Banyan Tree Mayakoba hotels and spas are world known for their extraordinary locations and pampering services.  The majority of their sites are found in the orient in areas such as Phuket, Bangkok, and Seychelles.  Here for the Playa del Carmen real estate for sale market, this translates into 120 units being constructed, of which only 50 of these units are being sold to investors. 

We were invited to visit the grounds of this new project here on the Playa del Carmen beaches within the Mayakoba Golf course resorts.  

Wow. 

 

Mayakoba is located on Mexico property, near to Cancun but just north of Playa del Carmen, on the Caribbean ocean with white powdery sands, and designed to blend into the natural habitat of the mangroves and cenotes famous in the Yucatan Peninsula.   The golf course weaves between the canals, the mangroves, and takes you next to the breathtaking views of the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean.  This golf course hosts the first PGA tournament ever held in Mexico and you can attend such events in the spring of each year. 

On our tour, we took an electric boat to motor us to the new Banyan Tree residential suites, to the beach club, and to the reception areas for this World Award winning hotel establishment. 

The project is near 80% - 85% complete. 

And it is only just been released for sale to the Mexico Real Estate market.  This is very interesting given that the delivery of a finished Condo and Residential unit is to occur in a quite short time period estimated for the first or second quarter of 2009. 

 Known for being eco friendly,  the buildings with their designs and layouts were upon us quite quickly before we noticed their presence.  They explained to us that Banyan Tree concept is having the guests and owners feel as if they are in the nature, in the surrounding habitat, and not within human built structures. 

 

The residential units, open onto natural views.  Views can be of the mangroves and water canals, of the ocean Caribbean beaches, of the lagoon, and or even of the golf course.   If you turn the corner, you come upon the living socializing area, and off to the other side you can stroll to the bedrooms.  A large pool, not a plunge pool, but a private pool wraps around the front of the unit, with a Jacuzzi, and a shallow area for sunning within the waters.   Those units on the canals and lagoon side have their own private wooden docks for the water taxis that exist in Mayakoba, which can take you to all the restaurants, to the reception areas, to the Mexican beach front properties, or to the golf club house within the Mayakoba complex.

At this time,  50 units have been placed on sale.  25 of these will be sold as condo hotel, and the other 25 sold as full ownership.  If the owners decide to  place their units within the rental pool of the Banyan Tree administration, this is an option that is left for the owner.

 

Playa del Carmen occupancy rates have been extremely strong over the past 4 years.    This tourism flow is projected to continue growing for the next 10 years.  As mentioned in other notes that I have written,  Mexico is preparing for this increase in the tourist industry as it is projected to be their number one source for revenues as a country.  This projection places the tourist industry above the petroleum exportation industries.  And which area of Mexico is projected to receive the majority of visitors?    Yes, the Riviera Maya.   And if you are in the area, place notice in the new Cancun Airport Terminal, notice the new investments and expansions on the highway from the Cancun airport all the way down to Tulum, take notice in the new projected international airport to be constructed in the southern half of the Riviera Maya.  Is it a coincidence therefore that the Banyan Tree  selected their first site of all of the Americas to be here in the middle of Real Estate in Playa del Carmen?  Hmmmm

Getting back to our tour… after visiting the condo units, the boat taxi picked us up and we scooted down the canals to visit the beach club.  The soft electric motor allowed us to sneak up on various birds perched up on a rocky island of the waterway.  What a sight, and what a nice sound of silence.  We rode down a tight waterway with jungle trees and mangroves that suddenly opened out onto a lagoon.  Now we could hear the beach shore.  The boat silently slid into another dock hidden in the trees, we stepped out, followed the boardwalk, and we opened up onto a white washed chic restaurant located directly on the white Caribbean beaches.  

Nice music, relaxing breezes, and turquoise blue waters.  To the north on the beach,  you can see within 80 yards the new beach club exclusively built for the Banyan Tree resorts and spas.  Infinity pools, Jacuzzis, spas, swim up bars.  It has it all, and yet designed for privacy, and low residency.